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Gov’t, PCCI to feel pulse on tax reform

THE GOVERNMENT has teamed up with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) for a nationwide road show this quarter designed to drum up support for Republic Act No. 10963 — the first of up to five planned tax reform tranches — and to feel businessmen’s pulse on the proposed second package that cuts the corporate income tax (CIT) rate and streamlines fiscal incentives, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement yesterday.

DoF said it is undertaking the effort in partnership with the Participatory Governance Cluster-Open Government Partnership led by the departments of Budget and Management and of Interior and Local Government as well as with PCCI, and with the support of the United States Agency for International Development’s Facilitating Public Investments Project.

RA 10963, or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act that was enacted on Dec. 19 last year, cuts personal income tax rates and offsets the expected foregone revenues by hiking or introducing consumption taxes on fuel, automobiles, sugar-sweetened drinks, tobacco products, coal, minerals, cosmetic surgery and some investment products, among other items. The enacted version of this first package is estimated to yield some P90 billion in additional revenues in the first year of enforcement, down from P133.8-157.2 billion originally after provisions were toned down.

The DoF submitted to the House of Representatives on Jan. 15 the second package, which will cut the CIT rate gradually to 25% from 30% over the next five years in order to put the Philippines at par in this regard with its closest Southeast Asian competitors like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam and will make up for the foregone revenues by scrapping redundant fiscal incentives that have been costing the government some P300 billion a year. The DoF hopes to secure this package’s enactment in time for start of enforcement in January 2019.

The department said the planned “caravan” will preach the merits of tax reform in Bacolod City (Jan. 31), General Santos City (Feb. 7), Subic/Clark (Feb. 13), Zamboanga City (Feb. 21), Makati City (Feb. 28), Cebu City (Mar. 2), Baguio City (Mar. 7) and Tacloban City (Mar. 23).

DoF Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua and Assistant Secretary Ma. Teresa S. Habitan will lead speakers from the government, while lawyers Tomasa “Tammy” H. Lipana and Benedicta “Dick” Du-Baladad, co-chairpersons of PCCI’s taxation committee, will represent the business sector. Lawmakers from both chambers of Congress have also been invited to speak in the road show.

The DoF statement quoted PCCI President Ma. Alegria S. Limjoco as saying that the road show will “solicit… business sentiments and positions on the proposed tax measure.”

“We fully recognize the efforts of government to raise revenue to support its infrastructure projects and we hope that the proposed measure, once passed into law, would be beneficial for everyone,” she said.

It also quoted Ms. Du-Baladad as saying “[i]t is high time the granting of tax incentives is rationalized to remove the redundancies and make incentives clearer and more accountable.”

DoF’s proposed bill will repeal 150 laws granting fiscal perks and replace them with an omnibus law covering the 14 investment promotion agencies.

At the same time, PCCI Taxation director Edgardo Lacson said: “We cannot discount the fact that our country has the highest corporate income tax rate in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).”

“There is a need to reduce the rates to a level that will make us competitive in a field of countries competing for the same direct investment funds.”

But Tax Management Association of the Philippines President Raymund S. Gallardo said last Sunday that DoF’s plan to make the graduated CIT rate cut contingent on the raising of at least P26 billion per year from a streamlined fiscal perks regime could turn off investors. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

Improved anti-dengue vaccine seen from mess

CHICAGO — New dengue vaccines being developed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. and US government scientists are poised to provide a safer alternative to Sanofi’s Dengvaxia, according to vaccine experts, because they already take into account some of the issues that sidelined the product last year.

Sanofi revealed in November that Dengvaxia — the world’s first dengue vaccine — might increase the risk of severe disease in people who had never been exposed to the virus.

The news prompted an uproar in the Philippines, where more than 800,000 school-age children had been vaccinated.

Next-generation vaccines by Japan’s Takeda and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), in conjunction with Brazil’s Butantan Institute, are now in late-stage testing.

They both differ significantly from Dengvaxia, which may increase the chances for a stronger, more durable immune response, according to more than a dozen dengue experts interviewed by Reuters.

They expressed especially high hopes for the NIH vaccine, which protected 100 percent of volunteers who received it in a small study.

Merck & Co., Inc. holds an exclusive license for the NIH vaccine in the United States, Canada, China, Japan and the European Union, and plans to begin its own trials in the first half of 2018.

It’s too early to say whether either candidate will ultimately succeed, and experts await data from large, late-stage clinical trials.

And while Sanofi’s early safety troubles may delay licensing of new vaccines for a few years as global regulators seek assurances from longer-term data, the increased scrutiny should result in a better, safer product, they said.

“We’ve learned a tremendous amount about dengue from the Sanofi vaccine,” said Dr. Anna Durbin, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who helped develop the NIH vaccine. “There is hope the two candidates coming down the pike can provide the benefit of a good dengue vaccine without the risk.”

LESSONS LEARNED
Dengue is the world’s fastest-growing infectious disease, afflicting up to 100 million people worldwide, causing half a million life-threatening infections and killing up to 25,000 people, mostly children, each year. An effective vaccine could be worth more than $1 billion globally, according to industry analysts.

There are four distinct types of dengue. A first infection with any one of them can increase the chances of severe disease when exposed to a second.

Experts say an effective vaccine must protect against all four types at once. A weak response to one of them could act like a first infection and leave a person vulnerable to severe disease when exposed a second time.

That is what appears to have happened with Sanofi’s Dengvaxia, according to vaccine experts.

“It wasn’t a uniformly high level of response to all four subtypes (of dengue) simultaneously,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview.

Sanofi’s late-stage clinical trials, which were designed in 2009, collected blood samples from only 10-15% of study participants before they were vaccinated.

As a result, it was impossible to know when the studies were published in 2015 whether risks were greater in children who had never been exposed to dengue, said Dr. Su-Peing Ng, Sanofi’s global medical head, in an interview.

To answer this question, Sanofi developed a special test to re-analyze its results, leading to the November 2017 disclosure.

“We’ve been extremely transparent with our data,” Ms. Ng said, adding that the company consulted with the field’s leading experts as it was developing its vaccine.

Clinical trials testing the two new vaccines both require blood samples for all participants before they are vaccinated so they can quickly identify any similar risks.

Dr. Stephen Whitehead, who developed the NIH vaccine, said in a 2016 review that the long-term follow up from Sanofi’s studies “was instrumental in identifying safety concerns that are currently being investigated.”

IMMUNE RESPONSE
Dengvaxia uses a widely effective yellow fever virus vaccine as its genetic backbone. To induce an immune response to dengue, certain yellow fever genes were swapped out for dengue genes.

“It seemed like a bright idea 20 years ago,” said dengue expert Dr. Scott Halstead, an adjunct professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

In hindsight, Mr. Halstead said, simply splicing select dengue genes into a yellow fever vaccine may not present enough of the virus to the immune system to induce full protection.

Instead of yellow fever, Takeda’s vaccine, TAK-003, is based on a weakened version of a live dengue 2 virus.

“We’ve taken a dengue 2 virus backbone and inserted elements of dengue 1, 3 and 4,” said Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, president of Takeda’s global vaccine business unit.

That’s important, Venkayya said, “because it exposes an individual that is immunized to a broad range of proteins on the outside and the inside of the virus, which allows individuals to generate a broad immune response.”

Data published in November in Lancet Infectious Diseases showed Takeda’s vaccine produced responses against all four virus types, regardless of previous dengue exposure. There were no safety concerns.

Takeda’s vaccine is being tested in 20,000 children aged four to 16 in Asia and Latin America. Initial data are expected in late 2018.

Venkayya said the company’s research has shown the vaccine, given in two doses, can produce both antibodies to dengue as well as a second type of response in which immune cells — known as CD8-positive T cells — recognize and kill virus-infected cells.

Several researchers suspect exposure to the full spectrum of dengue proteins is key to developing a fully protective vaccine.

Johns Hopkins’ Durbin said the presence of T-cells triggered by non-structural proteins in dengue 2 could help clear the virus before people become sick.

But, like Sanofi’s Dengvaxia, the Takeda vaccine appears to produce an unbalanced antibody response, with the highest protection offered against dengue 2.

In a July 2017 paper published in Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, Mr. Halstead said that it is also not clear whether Takeda’s vaccine will provoke T-cell immunity to the other three dengue viruses, clouding its potential to succeed.

The NIH vaccine, called TV003/TV005, also features weakened versions of live dengue, but three of the four components — dengue 1, 3 and 4 — are based on whole dengue viruses. The fourth component is based on a dengue 4 backbone with dengue 2 genes spliced in.

It has been shown to provoke a strong antibody response to all four types of dengue in a single shot, as well as producing T-cell immunity.

“It appears to be a true, protective, one-dose vaccine,” Mr. Halstead said.

Brazil’s non-profit Butantan Institute is testing the vaccine in some 17,000 participants in 14 areas with widespread dengue.

“Though you never, ever, definitively predict until after everything is completely over, everything we’ve seen on the preliminary work on that looks pretty good,” Mr. Fauci said. — Reuters

Powell era arrives as Fed pace looks ripe for rethink

WASHINGTON — The American labor market is sizzling, inflation more broadly in the US looks like it’s perking up and even a decade-long global economic recovery looks ready to shift into a higher gear.

No pressure, Jerome Powell.

As Janet Yellen prepares to step aside as the Federal Reserve chair this week and hand the levers of monetary policy to Mr. Powell, her gradual approach to interest-rate hikes aimed at countering a fragile recovery and low inflation looks increasingly timid.

The leadership transition at the world’s most powerful monetary authority comes just in time for a fresh approach.

Mr. Powell takes over as stocks worldwide are soaring and rising commodity prices are lifting emerging markets — so much so that the International Monetary Fund has raised its 2018 world outlook, buoyed by rebounds from Europe to Brazil.

Adding to the momentum are US tax cuts timed to further stoke consumer spending and propel companies already boosting investment.

The Fed, though, is straight-jacketed when it comes to timing its policy moves. While no one expects the US central bank to raise interest rates when the Federal Open Market Committee announces its decision on Wednesday, investors are anticipating about three rate hikes this year, timed to coincide with meetings when press conferences are scheduled.

It’s a constraint Mr. Powell may need to address soon as his Fed debates the need to speed up the pace of policy tightening or stay on track.

“We are in a pretty good place right now economically, but we’ve got a monetary policy that still seems like it is in the remnants of a Depression era,” Jes Staley, the chief executive officer of Barclays Plc, said in Davos, Switzerland, last week.

Bankers at the forum in the Alps sounded more worried about asset bubbles, and what happens when they pop, than an inflation rate that Fed officials have regarded as too low and meriting a go-slow policy.

“Bubbles are building,” Axel Weber, UBS Group AG chairman and former president of the German central bank, said in Davos.

“The impact of this current monetary policy on markets, rather than just on inflation, is something central banks have to focus a bit more on at this point.”

Mr. Powell has an opportunity to refocus the message. Financial markets bet that he continues Ms. Yellen’s “what-me-hurry?” approach to policy. There are good reasons to be cautious. Central bankers don’t precisely know where the policy rate begins to bite down on growth, and if they tighten too quickly they could choke the upswing.

What has to change, some economists said, is the way that his Fed signals responsiveness to economic conditions that could brighten more quickly than expected.

“The issue is: Is the Fed nimble enough?” said Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at Standish Mellon Asset Management in Boston and a former senior Fed adviser.

“They don’t give evidence of being data-dependent or making decisions meeting by meeting.”

There are few successful examples of a central bank smoothly warning markets it could shift to a more aggressive posture. The long shadow of the Fed’s 2013 Taper Tantrum cautions against abrupt moves. Yields on US 10-year notes jumped by more than a percentage point over several weeks after then-Fed chief Ben Bernanke said it would start trimming its monthly bond purchase program.

PRE-CRISIS LESSONS
At the same time, gradualism carries risks: reducing volatility, and setting up conditions for spending and borrowing based on potentially over-optimistic assumptions.

That was the lesson from the Fed’s experiment with “measured” pace forward guidance when it raised rates in predictable quarter-point steps between 2004 and 2006.

Despite five rate increases under Ms. Yellen, who began the hiking cycle in late 2015, the Chicago Fed’s Financial Conditions Index is at the lowest levels since the early 1990s.

“We have had the opposite of a taper tantrum — a substantial net easing of financial conditions,” said Ethan Harris, head of global economics research at Bank of America.

“The message of the Fed is starting to look a bit stale.”

There are at least three ways Mr. Powell could signal more sensitivity to changing conditions.

The Fed holds eight scheduled policy meetings a year and he could hold a press conference every time to explain his thinking, instead of after every other meeting, which is current practice.

Investors see much less chance of a policy move at non-press conference meetings, despite repeated insistence from the Fed that each one is “live” for action.

“If they wanted to just show up and do a press conference, they could,” said Seth Carpenter, a former senior adviser at the Fed in Washington who is now chief US economist at UBS Securities in New York.

“The probability of going to eight press conferences a year could be pretty high” under Mr. Powell.

Second, the statement is over-reliant on officials’ baseline forecast. Its boilerplate guidance says “economic conditions will evolve in a manner that will warrant gradual increases in the federal funds rate.” That doesn’t say anything about the weight officials give to other outcomes and how that might be shifting now.

That leads to the third way Mr. Powell could change communications. He could talk about prominent risks to the outlook and how the Fed might respond, said Andrew Levin, a Dartmouth College professor and former Ms. Yellen adviser.

It’s a “what if” exercise that the Fed staff already provides to policy makers before every meeting, he said.

“Mr. Powell has a mandate to make the Fed more systematic and more transparent — that is what many members of Congress have wanted to see,” Mr. Levin said.

“I think Mr. Powell can move things forward.” — Bloomberg

Treasury makes partial award of T-bill offer as banks bid higher

THE GOVERNMENT made a partial award of the P20 billion it planned to raise through the auction of Treasury bills (T-bills) yesterday, with yields rising across the board as market players await leads from the US this week.

The Bureau of the Treasury’s (BTr) offer yesterday was met with P31.5 billion in demand, well above program, but it only borrowed P16.5 billion via the three-month, six-month, and one-year debt papers as banks asked for higher returns.

Broken down, the Treasury made a full award of the P9 billion programmed under the 91-day tenor as it received bids worth P18.72 billion. The average rate rose to 2.321% from the 2.233% fetched during the previous auction.

Meanwhile, the government only borrowed P4.615 billion in the 182-day T-bills out of the P6 billion it offered, even as it received P6.965 billion worth of tenders from banks. Following the partial award, yields went up to 2.577% from 2.519% in the previous auction.

The 364-day securities were also partially awarded, with the Treasury accepting just P2.853 billion out of the P5.853 billion put forward by market players.

The accepted tenders for the one-year tenor fell short of the P5 billion the Treasury intended to offer, driving the average yield up to 2.925% from the 2.849% fetched in the previous auction.

“We saw that the demand came from the shortest end, which is the 91-day T-bill rate. We had the double the size on offer on that, but for the others, it’s a little bit over the offer size,” Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana told reporters after the auction.

The P31.5 billion worth of total tenders was lower than the P50.1 billion of demand the Treasury saw in the previous T-bills auction.

“We think the liquidity is there but we can sense that the market is waiting for some leads,” Mr. Sta. Ana added, citing the upcoming meeting of US Federal Reserve’s policy makers and US President Donald J. Trump’s second State of the Union address.

Although analysts are expecting no policy change or surprises at the Jan. 30-31 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Guian Angelo S. Dumalagan, market economist of Land Bank of the Philippines, said in a previous interview that there might be “hawkish hints” from the Fed’s policy makers.

The meeting will be the last for Fed Chair Janet L. Yellen, as she will be replaced by Jerome H. Powell.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump is expected to tackle in his Jan. 30 State of the Union address five key policy areas: jobs and the economy, infrastructure, immigration, trade, and national security, according to CNBC.

Sought for comment, a trader said: “We still continue to see demand for the shorter end but players are asking for higher rates given the increases in US Treasuries and oil prices over the past weeks,”

Asked why the Treasury did not accept other offers for the six-month and one-year papers to fill its planned borrowing, the trader said the BTr is in a robust cash position following its successful retail Treasury bond offering late last year, where it raised P255.4 billion in fresh funds.

“I think its robust cash position will allow them to navigate through the volatile interest rate environment that we have right now,” the trader added.

The BTr plans to auction off P120 billion worth of Treasury bills and another P120 billion worth of Treasury bonds in the January to March period. This is higher than the P200 billion the government offered in the last quarter of 2017. — K.A.N. Vidal

SEC prepares guidelines on initial coin offerings

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be releasing within the year guidelines for companies seeking to conduct initial coin offerings (ICOs).

SEC Commissioner Emilio B. Aquino, who also heads the agency’s Enforcement and Investor Protection Department, said the commission is now drafting the new guidelines.

“We need to act now because ICOs are sprouting globally, not necessarily in the Philippines. We want also to come out with our own set of regulations,” Mr. Aquino said in a press briefing at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Monday.

He said the commission will be talking with financial technology (fintech) groups from the United States and Australia to come up with a model on how to regulate ICOs, given that no concrete guidelines have been set in other jurisdictions.

“We are sitting down with a fintech group from the US, we’re also sitting down with the Australian group to present to us some of their models… In short, we are sharing notes,” Mr. Aquino said.

Some companies and individuals around the world are using ICOs to raise money for their businesses and projects. Typically, investors in ICOs exchange currency such as US dollars or cryptocurrencies in exchange for a digital asset called coin or token.

Authorities in China and South Korea have already banned coin offerings, citing the heightened risks of scams.

In the United States, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton in a statement last December warned that some coins could be considered as securities and would be in violation of securities law if not registered.

Bloomberg reported start-ups have raised around $450 million in ICOs in January, citing Coinist. In 2017, ICOs raised $3.8 billion.

Mr. Aquino said the SEC is considering the inclusion of an “accredited investors plan” in the new guidelines, which it says would ensure investors participating in the ICO have the necessary background to understand the transaction.

“We would like to believe that some people, with certain levels of financial literacy, will understand the risk of investing. We might consider that, it should be somebody who understands the risks involved,” Mr. Aquino said.

SEC Director for Markets and Securities Regulation Department Vicente Graciano P. Felizmenio, Jr. noted the guidelines for ICOs would have similarities in principle with the new rules for crowdfunding, scheduled to be released within the first quarter.

“There are some basic principles that apply to an ICO. One because there is a public offer, then it would be covered by the SRC (Securities Regulation Code) for raising the funds. It just so happens that it is related to cryptocurrency… So the same exercise, but the focus would be different… because in this case the idea about the cryptocurrency itself is very much important to understand,” Mr. Felizmenio said.

In the absence of these regulations, companies seeking to conduct an ICO in the Philippines would have to comply with the SRC and disclose to the SEC all material information related to the investment.

“We’re not altogether banning ICOs. So long as you’re able to comply, you submit to us, we feel that investor protection issues are duly addressed and we get to see our investors, and then of course following strict disclosure requirements under the SRC, then more likely we will allow it,” Mr. Aquino said.

The SEC last week stopped the ICO of online marketplace KROPS, headed by businessman Joseph H. Calata, for failing to register the securities with the commission. A cease-and-desist order was served on KROPS, as well as Black Cell Technology, Inc., Black Sands Capital, Inc., and Black Cell Technology Ltd., which have been taking part in the ICO.

With the investigation on KROPS, Mr. Aquino said all other companies that have conducted ICOs but did not register with the SEC will be considered illegal.

The commission is now in the process of investigating entities that conducted such transactions without their knowledge, and will look into complaints from investors. 

Deputy Ombudsman ordered suspended

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday punished an anti-graft prosecutor suspected of leaking his bank records after an opposition politician had accused Mr. Duterte of corruption.

When he was still a presidential candidate, Mr. Duterte was accused of unlawfully failing to disclose P211 million ($4.1 million) in secret bank accounts. The 2016 complaint was lodged with the Ombudsman, an anti-graft prosecutor.

Mr. Duterte has denied the allegation. On Monday his spokesman Harry L. Roque, Jr. said the President’s chief aide had suspended the deputy Ombudsman, Melchor Arthur Carandang, for three months.

The Ombudsman’s office had no comment.

Mr. Carandang told a local television station last year that the Ombudsman had since 2016 been quietly investigating Mr. Duterte and his family’s bank transactions.

The probe followed a complaint filed by Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV, a Duterte critic.

Mr. Trillanes had alleged Mr. Duterte embezzled government funds and engaged in other illegal activities during his lengthy stint as mayor of the southern city of Davao before becoming president.

In the only comment it has made on the case, the central bank’s Anti-Money Laundering Council said following Mr. Carandang’s television comments that it had received a request from the Ombudsman “regarding the alleged bank accounts of President Rodrigo Duterte.”

It said the request concerned information provided to the Ombudsman by Mr. Trillanes and that it had yet to evaluate it.

All government officials including the president must by law disclose their assets and liabilities each year as a safeguard against corruption.

Mr. Roque said Mr. Carandang was being suspended after two individuals filed an administrative case against him for alleged violations of the country’s corruption law.

The complaint alleged Mr. Carandang had committed “grave misconduct and grave dishonesty” for the “misuse of confidential information and disclosing false information,” Mr. Roque added.

Mr. Trillanes said Monday Mr. Duterte was violating the Constitution because the special prosecutor is an independent official who cannot be sanctioned by the chief executive.

“Clearly this is another Duterte tactic that’s meant to bully democratic institutions into submission so he could go on with his dictatorial and corrupt ways,” Mr. Trillanes said in a statement. — AFP

Two-week term deposit a viable third TDF tenor

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez,
Senior Reporter

A TWO-WEEK TENOR could be a viable offering for the central bank’s weekly term deposit auctions, an analyst said, as this could satisfy the market’s bias towards short-termed instruments.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) would likely set a 14-day term as a third tenor for the term deposit facility (TDF), said Christopher Ma. Carmelo Y. Salazar, senior vice-president and group head of financial markets at the First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC).

“Another tenor will probably be two weeks. It could be more viable than the 28 days because market is looking for short term. These are, after all just excess funds at the moment,” Mr. Salazar said in a recent interview.

“You just want to park it somewhere to earn, but you don’t want to really tie it up for a long time because if there’s an opportunity, you want to use it.”

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo said the central bank is currently in talks with industry players as they consider a new maturity for term deposits, which would likely be longer than a week but shorter than a month.

This follows the decision of the monetary authority to stop offering the 28-day tenor since mid-December as they saw some tightening in liquidity conditions and pale demand from banks.

The TDF is currently the central bank’s main tool to capture excess money supply in the financial system.

The window allows banks to park the idle cash they hold under the BSP in exchange for a small margin, which in turn will prod market rates to move closer to the three percent benchmark set by the central bank.

The BSP has been offering only P40 billion — in the form of seven-day term deposits — since Dec. 20, as players shied away from month-long placements.

Mr. Guinigundo said players preferred the shorter tenor as it lends more “flexibility” for banks to manage their funds and service client demands over the Christmas season, as they also deploy cash for lending, foreign exchange, offshore investments and debt payments.

Last week’s auction received overwhelming bids worth P119.582 billion, which is nearly three times the amount dangled by the central bank. The week-long deposits fetched a 2.9256% average yield, declining for the sixth straight week.

The auction volume will remain at P40 billion for Wednesday’s auction.

“The short tenor facilities should continue to do well… The market wants the liquidity to come back faster,” FMIC’s Mr. Salazar said.

This is in line with the general preference for short-term placements, as seen in the bonds market.

“I think for this year, market will still prefer the short term. Five years and below will probably be something that market and investors will go after, especially that everyone views rates to go higher — to protect yourself against higher rates, you stay on the short end of the curve,” Mr. Salazar added.

This comes ahead of expectations of three more rate hikes in the United States this year, which would lift global yields further. However, uncertainties remain as to the timing and pace of these rate adjustments.

Robredo camp: Marcos case ‘weak, flawed’

LOSING VICE-PRESIDENTIAL candidate Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Monday challenged the camp of Vice-President Maria Leonor G. Robredo that they both withdraw all their filed motions before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), which he said are the cause of delay in his electoral protest.

“We will withdraw all our motion so we can proceed with the recount. We will concur. They should withdraw as well all their motion to the incidents they are questioning…so we could proceed with the recount. That’s a challenge. I’m challenging them,” Mr. Marcos said at a press briefing.

Mr. Marcos’s comments was in response to the remarks of Ms. Robredo’s legal counsel, Romulo B. Macalintal, early Monday that the cause of delay is rooted in a “weak and flawed election protest.”

Mr. Macalintal said, “He only has to blame himself for filing a weak and flawed election protest that the (PET) has to resolve many preliminary matters before the case could move on.”

Mr. Marcos also reiterated his claim that the fraud during the 2016 election was solely targeted at him.

Asked by the media if he was accusing the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Smartmatic of conspiring with Ms. Robredo in the alleged fraud, Mr. Marcos replied: “Yes. The evidence will be the final count and the recount as opposed to the count of Comelec and Smartmatic.”

He also questioned the ballot images they acquired, which supposedly show Ms. Robredo getting votes despite the “over-voting or under-voting” in the ballot.

He added that they also noticed a “square” in Ms. Robredo’s name in the ballot.

“There was suddenly a square. What does that square mean? For the sake of argument, let’s say that the square was the signal to the machine to count. But why would you count an under-vote, over-vote? It’s a spoiled ballot, but why did it count Robredo? Why is it that when there’s a period in my name in the ballot, it didn’t count me? It’s obvious what they did with my votes,” he said.

In the 2016 vice-presidential race, Ms. Robredo won against Mr. Marcos with a lead of 263,473 votes. Mr. Marcos thereafter filed an electoral protest on June 29, 2016 before the Supreme Court sitting as the PET. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

Manila Water bags P800-M Isabela project

MANILA WATER Company, Inc. on Monday said it bagged a P800-million water project in Ilagan City, Isabela.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the listed company said it received on Jan. 26 the notice of award from the City of Ilagan Water District (CIWD) for a joint venture project for the development and management of a raw water source, provision of bulk water supply and septage management in the city.

After completing the conditions specified in the notice, the consortium, composed of Manila Water and its subsidiary Manila Water Philippine Ventures, Inc. (MWPV), and CIWD will sign a deal to establish the joint venture company.

The joint venture company will then ink a bulk water sales and purchase agreement, and septage management agreement with the CIWD.

Manila Water said the bulk water project is estimated to require over P600 million in capital expenditures (capex), while the septage management component will need nearly P200 million.

“The bulk water supply facilities, when completed and operational by 2020, shall supply treated bulk water to the CIWD of up to 30 million liters per day (MLD),” the company said.

The septage management component is expected to be operational by 2021.

Meanwhile, MWPV subsidiary Laguna Water in a separate statement said it is allocating P1.2 billion this year to improve its water supply network and facilities in the province. Laguna Water is a public-private partnership between the Laguna provincial government and Manila Water.

Laguna Water said it will invest in “various water source development; water network expansion, improvement, and rehabilitation; water service reliability projects; and water facility upgrades.”

The company said it will also begin offering used water services. Its sewage treatment plant in Laguna Technopark, which has been upgraded, will use Organica Food Chain Reactor technology for the treatment of domestic used water.

Shares in Manila Water were unchanged at P28.50 each. — AGAM

Peso plunges on strong US inflation data, Fed bets

THE PESO plunged against the dollar on Monday to its weakest finish in more than two months due to stronger-than-expected US inflation data as well as market expectations of a US Federal Reserve hike.

The local currency ended yesterday’s session at P51.185 versus the greenback, dropping by 34.5 centavos from its P50.84-per-dollar close on Friday.

This is the local unit’s weakest close in two months or since when it finished at P51.205 against the greenback last Nov. 13.

The peso traded weaker the whole day, opening the session at P50.90 versus the dollar, which was also yesterday’s best showing. The peso’s intraday low, meanwhile, stood at P51.20 against the greenback.

Dollars traded slumped to $892.25 million from the $1.05 billion that changed hands in the previous session.

“The peso dipped strongly today following the release of stronger-than-expected US personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation data,” a trader said in an e-mail on Monday.

The trader said PCE inflation, the measurement preferred by the Fed, came out at 2.8% in the fourth quarter of year compared with the figure a quarter ago. This was faster than the market expectation of 1.8%

Meanwhile, Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist of UnionBank of the Philippines, said expectations of a Fed hike soon boosted the dollar,

“I think it’s more of external pressures… They are saying [that the Fed] is going to hike its interest rates three times this year and a lot faster in 2019. Four interest hikes,” Mr. Asuncion said.

He added that market players are also looking at Philippine inflation data for this month, which will be released next week.

“Some investors are also looking at a heightened inflation this January. Maybe that’s one source of sentiment from the market.”

For today, Mr. Asuncion expects the peso to move between P51 and P51.50, while the trader gave a slimmer range of P51 to P51.40.

“The local currency is expected to recover [today] amid likely stronger initial GDP (gross domestic product) growth data from the Eurozone and possible weaker US non-farm private employment data which can weaken the dollar,” the trader said. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Ayala tightens hold on Tutuban Center owner

By Krista A. M. Montealegre,
National Correspondent

PROPERTY GIANT Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) tightened its grip on the owner and developer of Tutuban Center in Divisoria after acquiring a block of shares at a discount to the prevailing market price.

In a disclosure on Monday, Prime Orion Philippines, Inc. said its key shareholder Ayala Land purchased 202.77 million shares of the company worth P496.80 million from Genez Investments Corp. through a block sale at the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The shares, which represent 4.14% of Prime Orion’s outstanding capital, were priced at P2.45 apiece, a discount to the stock’s previous close of P2.68 each.

Shares in Prime Orion shed 24 centavos or 8.96% to settle at P2.44 apiece on Monday.

Ayala Land took over Prime Orion in 2016 when the former subscribed to 2.5 billion common shares of the latter at P2.25 each for a total of P5.63 billion.

Prior to the acquisition of shares held by Genez Investments, Ayala Land owned 51.06% of the total outstanding shares of Prime Orion.

Prime Orion owns Tutuban Center in the Divisoria Tutuban Complex, which sits on a 20-hectare property that has 60,000 square meters in gross leasable area. The planned transfer station for the P287-billion North South Railway Project will connect to the Light Rail Transit Line 2 West Station.

The North South Railway Project will have a 56-kilometer commuter rail from Tutuban to Calamba, Laguna, and a 478-km long-haul rail from Tutuban to Legazpi, Albay. It is expected to boost the area’s daily foot traffic of 100,000 by 400,000.

Prime Orion had announced plans to double its leasable area and convert the property into a mixed-use development, using ALI’s investment.

At the start of the month, Ayala Land also raised its interest in Malaysian developer MCT Bhd. to 50.19%, cementing the Philippine firm’s control over the latter.

Under its 2020 Vision, Ayala Land is targeting a 20% annual growth rate to hit a net income of P40 billion.

For the first nine months of 2017, ALI saw an 18% increase in earnings to P17.8 billion, on the back of a 16% growth in revenues to P98.9 billion.

Shares in ALI slipped by P1 or 2.11% to close at P46.50 each on Monday.

Analysts take stock of Duterte’s ratings

By Arjay L. Balinbin

The 2018 SWS Survey Review showed that President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s ratings in the previous year in almost all areas “are generally positive,” said research scientist Mary Racelis of the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC), Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU).

Ms. Racelis, one of the reactors at the 2018 SWS Survey Review presented by SWS President Mahar K. Mangahas at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) on Monday, Jan. 29, noted President Duterte’s “positive” performance in his first year in office as shown by the 2017 results of the SWS surveys, conducted Mar. 25-28, Jun. 23-26, Sep. 23-27, and Dec. 8-16.

“But it’s important to put that in the context of previous presidents, and let’s see what’s going to happen in the next five years because that will be the true comparison in the end,” she added.

Mr. Mangahas, in his presentation, said Mr. Duterte received “good” to “very good” satisfaction ratings in the following areas: fighting terrorism (+67), helping the poor (+66) and the hungry (+33), reconciling with rebel groups (+48 for Muslim rebels and +43 for communist rebels), fighting crimes (+43), and eradicating graft and corruption (+42).

The SWS terminology for satisfaction ratings is as follows: +70 and above, “excellent”; +50 to +69, “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”, +9 to –9, “neutral”; –10 to –29, “poor”; –30 to –49, “bad”; –50 to –69, “very bad”; –70 and below, “execrable.”

PERCEPTION ON CRIME
Moreover, the “rate of victimization of the people by common crimes such as snatching, burglary, carnapping, and physical violence dropped slightly, in line with long-term trends. Fears of home break-in (59%) and of the streets being dangerous to walk at night (48%), which had been rising for several years, receded partially. The presence of many drug addicts in the neighborhood fell substantially, but was still quite high (42%),” Mr. Mangahas said.

SWS also reported that the “Maute/Abu Sayaff uprising in Marawi City was the most followed news of the year. Opinions in September on extending martial law in Mindanao to Dec. 31, 2017, were 54-28 in favor; but 54% said the AFP could suppress the rebels even without martial law. Satisfaction with the government’s suppressive actions was 66-18 overall, but only 29-26 among Muslims. The median expectation of how long it will take for the damaged areas to recover is 5-6 years.”

Meanwhile, opinions on the idea of a “Revolutionary Government” are 31% agree – 39% disagree, or a net -8 contra. Only Mindanao is pro (by +16). Those satisfied with Mr. Duterte are +2 pro; those neutral about him are -22 contra, and those dissatisfied with him are -43 contra, SWS report showed.

The SWS president also pointed out that “Filipino trust in foreign countries has not pivoted: net trust is +60 for the US, versus +6 for Russia and -13 for China. Trust in the UN, EU and Amnesty are all +. Approval of the US leadership fell, as in Asian neighbors.”

“Quality of life (QOL) indicators are extremely favorable” in Mr. Duterte’s first year as president, Mr. Mangahas noted. “Gainers minus losers hit a record +23 in December (+ since 2015). Poverty (46%, 2017) and hunger (12.3%, 2017) are roughly stable. Joblessness is down.”

SATISFACTION WITH DEMOCRACY
It was also highlighted that “satisfaction with how democracy works is very high — fully recovered from the depths of 2000-09. Strong preference of democracy over authoritarianism continues, as does the feeling of freedom to speak openly, even against the administration.”

On the other hand, the report also showed that “while calling the war on illegal drugs (is) successful, the people see the police as not as interested as they (are) in capturing suspects alive; as not telling the truth about suspects ‘fighting back’; as killing suspects from the poor rather than the rich; as mistakenly arresting many non-drug-pushers; and as undeserving of cash rewards. The most popular argument against re-imposing the death penalty is to give the offenders the opportunity to reform themselves.”

Makati Business Club (MBC) Executive Director Peter Angelo V. Perfecto, also one of the participants in the forum, said: “The one difference I’ve noticed in this administration, (the President) tends to his flock or his team, and I think he has many people around him to take the flak for him. Also, if you look at the results, people believe the President is telling the truth. But they don’t believe the police are telling the truth.”

“Clearly, there’s a separation in terms of how they see (the President and the police). Unlike again in the previous administration where everything was (the) President’s fault…I think that’s not happening now,” Mr. Perfecto added.

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